It’s getting colder outside and if you still have remnants of your summer garden—in particular, tomatoes—harvest them now. If you don’t the stinkbugs just might move into your fruits. What can you do to avoid these pests and the colder temperatures? Read on!

You can salvage your late-summer/early fall harvest of tomatoes. Instead of leaving them on the vine, harvest your tomatoes and bring them indoors.

Put them in a paper bag and give them a week or so to redden. Make sure they are not wet and keep the bag dry; otherwise, you will definitely lose one or more in the bag.

Close the bag (we fold/tuck the top) and be patient. Apparently gas from the ripening tomatoes stimulates the other tomatoes to ripen. What a sustainable process!

The images below show our latest brown bag ripening results. It takes at least a week, maybe two. We’ve been most successful in putting them in a warm (~70-80 degrees F) spot. Do try this at home!

You are welcome to share your late summer garden ideas. Let’s grow something!